Polymers of glycerol/sebacic acid (PGS), including both homopolymers and copolymers, have been shown to hold great promise as a bioresorbable material for use in medical and other applications. However, PGS has some material drawbacks that have limited potential commercial processing. PGS has a melt temperature of ˜35° C. and the curing process to produce the thermoset elastomer requires temperatures above 100° C. Therefore, to produce structures with a defined form a mold is required during the cure process. This limits the potential applications and workable structures of thermoset PGS.
Extrusion is a more desirable way to form shaped goods, but pure PGS cannot be readily extruded due to its low viscosity, non-ideal thermal properties, and long cure times. In order to extrude PGS, it must soften at elevated temperatures to be processed through a dye, outputting a structure that can withstand physiological and/or curing temperatures. Accordingly, extrusion techniques such as electrospinning prove unsatisfactory as it requires co-blending and/or a solvent based extrusion process. In addition, the electrospinning process produces random fiber orientations as opposed to extrusion which produces oriented structures that can be non-fibrous.